Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki has called up six players to fill the void left by a several departures from his squad due to injury and illness, with Bradley Grobler the latest player to pull out of the squad.
Cape Town City pair Abbubaker Mobara and Thamsanqa Mkhize were the first to depart after they tested positive for Covid-19. They were quickly followed by Thibang Pete, Thulani Serero, Andile Jali and Reeve Frosler who also withdrew from the squad as the national team went into camp yesterday to prepare for their back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sao Tome Principe.
Consequently, the Bafana coach had to call up a number of replacements with Mosa Lebusa, Vincent Pule, Thapelo Morena, Tshepo Rikhotso and Thabo Nodada all drafted into the squad, as confirmed by the team’s Twitter page.
Grobler was the latest player to be forced out after a scan revealed the striker was carrying an injury and thus AmaZulu midfielder Siyethemba Sithebe was called up.
Musa Lebusa, Vincent Pule, Thapelo Morena, Tshepo Rikhotso and Thabo Nodada have been drafted into the Bafana Bafana squad to play Sao Tome.
Kick off 21h00 and live on SABC— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) November 9, 2020
Bafana face Sao Tome in the first leg on Friday evening in Durban before heading down to Port Elizabeth four days later for the second clash.
The double-header will prove vital to Bafana’s chances of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations after their opening-game defeat away to Ghana was followed with a win at home against Sudan almost exactly a year ago.
They are second in Group C of the qualifiers.
